


Save Tonight

by Samunderthelights



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Don't copy to another site, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Leonard Snart Lives, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, One Shot, Time Travel, coldflash - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:47:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samunderthelights/pseuds/Samunderthelights
Summary: When Leonard gets drugged by his date, Barry travels back in time to save him.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart
Comments: 14
Kudos: 97





	Save Tonight

Leonard knows he has had a little bit more to drink than he should have, but usually the more he drinks, the more uninhibited he becomes. There is a little bit more flirting, if you catch him on the wrong day, a little bit more fighting. But he does not get drunk and lose control.

So when he gets up and his legs almost give out, his gut tells him that something is off. Surely those couple of extra drinks haven’t done this to him?

“Are you okay, man?” his date asks, and Leonard flashes a smile, brushing off that nagging off-feeling in the pit of his stomach. “How about we get out of here?”

“Sure, why not,” Leonard says, but he is still struggling to stay on his feet, so he picks up his glass and takes a sniff. “What is this stuff?”

“It’s their signature drink,” his date laughs. “A little too strong for you?”

“No, it’s just a little…,” Leonard tries, but he sways on his feet again, and when his date wraps an arm around his waist to lead him out of the bar, he makes no objection.

The world seems to get a little hazier by the second though, and he can swear that he must have blacked out for a minute or two, because when he opens his eyes, he is in an alley, his date kissing his neck, his hands pressing him up against the wall.

“Whoa, hold on there, pal,” Leonard laughs, but his date does not stop kissing him. In fact, his grip on him tightens, and where Leonard is not one to panic, when he tries to push him off, he realizes that he is not moving an inch. He is not pushing him off, or fighting. He does not stop him, when he one-handedly begins to unbuckle his belt, and it’s like he has lost all sense of control of his body.

But just as he feels a sense of panic washing over him, he notices the red flash in the corner of his eye. A split-second later he feels an arm wrap around his waist. The world seemed to be spinning already, although he still isn’t sure if it was the drink that did it to him or his date, after what has just happened. But when he opens his eyes this time, after Barry has let go of him, it all truly catches up with him, and Barry manages to catch him just before he hits the ground.

* * *

“How are you feeling?” Barry asks, when a little while later Leonard opens his eyes.

“Where am I?”

“My room,” Barry says, an uncomfortable smile on his face. “I didn’t want you to be alone tonight.”

“Right. Thanks, I guess,” Leonard says, but then he remembers the panic he had felt earlier tonight, and he can’t help but feel embarrassed. “I ehm…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“How did you know I’d be there?”

“It’s a long story,” Barry quickly says, and he gets up from off the side of the bed, and he picks up a book from his desk, just to have something to do, something for his hands to fumble with, hoping that Leonard won’t notice how he is feeling, what he is thinking.

“What did you do?” Leonard asks, unable to keep the smile from forming on his face, because he has watched Barry often enough to recognize this look. “Should I be worried?”

“No! I didn’t… I mean… no.”

“Barry Allen, what did you do? How did you know I would be there?” Leonard asks, raising an eyebrow as he sits up in bed. “Oh wow… you knew because you…”

“Don’t.”

“You travelled back in time, didn’t you?” Leonard laughs. “Just to save me from a bad date?”

“It’s not funny,” Barry says, and this time when Leonard sees the worried look on his face, he keeps quiet. Because this time it scares him, because yes, it was a bad date, but how bad was it really, that Barry had to come back to save him?

Does he even want to know?

“I didn’t mean… I’m sorry,” he sighs. “Thank you.”

Barry gives a small nod, before staring down at the book in his hands, and Leonard can’t help but stare at him. They have never been alone before, not like this, certainly not in Barry’s bedroom, and Leonard can’t deny he has fantasized about it before, but when he did, it definitely wasn’t like this. He is grateful that Barry has taken him here though, because he can still feel that sense of panic somewhere deep down inside of him, and he isn’t sure what he would do if he were alone right now. What kind of trouble he would get into.

“Are you okay?” Barry asks, after an uncomfortable silence. “I mean, I know he put something in your drink, so… and I know what he was trying to do you, and… I mean, obviously you’re not okay, but…,” he rambles, and Leonard can’t help but smile.

“I’m okay.”

“Do you want to take a bath?” Barry suggests. “I can make you a drink, and…”

“I think I have had enough drinks for one night,” Leonard chuckles uncomfortably. “But a bath would be nice.”

Leonard gets out of bed, his legs still feeling a little wobbly, but with Barry’s help he makes it into the bathroom. He gets out of his clothes as soon as Barry has left, and he sits down in the bathtub, pulling his legs up to his chest, that sense of panic still inside of him. He hates it, because this isn’t him. He is Leonard Snart, he is not some scared, little… his heart makes a jump when he hears a door slam shut, and his own reaction makes the tears well up in his eyes. More out of embarrassment than anything.

“May I come in?” Barry asks, a little while later, but when there is no reaction, he goes in, a little scared to find Leonard gone. But when he goes in, he finds him still sitting in the water, his legs pulled up to his chest, his eyes watery, quickly wiping a tear from his face.

“You must think I’m…”

“How can I help?” Barry asks, not willing to listen to Leonard talking himself down. He sets down his mug of hot cocoa, before sitting down next to the bathtub, and carefully, hesitantly, reaching out a hand.

For a moment, Leonard stares at him like he has just lost his mind, but then he flashes a small, embarrassed smile, and he takes the other man’s hand.

“I couldn’t fight him off,” Leonard says, his voice barely there, but Barry can hear him, and he tightens the grip on his hand, kicking himself for not going back in time further. He tried to, he wanted to be there before the date, but somehow he had shown up too late, and he didn’t dare try again, already scared to mess up the timeline too much.

“He had put something in your drink. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah… it was though, wasn’t it?” Leonard asks. “I knew what kind of guy he was, and yet… he wasn’t even that hot.”

Barry can’t help but smile, but he can see that Leonard is only trying to laugh it off, when in reality, this has cut him down deep.

“Why did you come back, Barry?”

“I told you…”

“What did he do to me?” Leonard asks, but when he sees the guilty look on the other man’s face, he sighs. “Barry, what did he do?”

“It doesn’t matter, because it didn’t happen,” Barry tries, but when Leonard frees his hand from his grip, a frustrated look on his face, he sighs. “What do you want me to say?”

“Did he…”

“Hurt you? Yes, he did, Leonard. He hurt you, real bad,” Barry says, his voice breaking. “And I know… look, I know that coming back here to stop him from… you know…”

“Oh, wow…,” Leonard laughs, it only now hitting him what Leonard didn’t want to tell him. “He killed me, didn’t he? I always assumed I would go out with a bang, but not that kind of bang.”

“Don’t, okay?” Barry spits out, his eyes filled with such a pain, such a rage, that for a moment, Leonard is too taken aback to say anything. “Don’t even… you have no idea what we went through out there. So don’t.”

“I didn’t realize you cared.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Barry admits, and he sighs, before getting up. “I guess sometimes it takes watching someone die to realize you actually do.”

Leonard is too overwhelmed, too drained, to come back with some witty, snarky remark, so he simply watches as Barry leaves the bathroom, his eyes filled with tears.

* * *

Barry had been fast asleep, but the tossing and turning next to him, followed by panicked and frantic sounds, wakes him up, and he turns over, only to find Leonard lying there, drenched in sweat, such a pained look on his face, that for a moment, Barry wonders if he is awake and wounded. But his eyes are closed, and when he cries out, Barry carefully places a hand on his arm, hoping to wake him up and get him out of his nightmare.

His touch does wake Leonard up, but Leonard’s automatic reaction is to fight, and within seconds, he is on top of Barry, having pinned him down to the mattress.

“What the…”

“Barry?” Leonard asks, letting out a small chuckle when he realizes what has happened. “What were you doing?”

“Trying to wake you up! You were having a nightmare!”

“I see… well, it looks like _something_ has woken up,” Leonard laughs, glancing down, Barry wanting nothing more than to disappear right now. This isn’t exactly his ideal scenario, being pinned down to the bed by Leonard Snart, while glaringly obviously having an erection. Well, maybe it would be his ideal scenario, but not right now.

“Look, I’m sorry,” he quickly says, “Just go back to sleep, okay?”

“Are you telling _me_ that, or… little Barry Allen down there?” Leonard grins.

Barry buries his face in his hands, the embarrassment too much too handle. But Leonard removes his hands, now a reassuring smile on his face.

“Relax,” he whispers, before climbing off him, and lying down next to him, his eyes still focused on him. “Just wake me up if I’m causing trouble. I promise next time I won’t fight you,” he says, the smile on his face quickly growing more mischievous. “Unless that’s what you’re into, of course.”

“Yeah, that’s funny.” Barry nods, but when he feels Leonard’s hand ever so gently lying down on his stomach, he can’t help but smile.

He had gotten so used to Leonard’s Captain Cold persona, that for the longest time he had not seen the real Leonard. Or rather, he had not allowed himself to see him. It wasn’t until Leonard was attacked, the moment when he had heard about the attack, that it had truly hit him that he had almost lost him. For a moment there was a sense of relief, and even as he rushed to the hospital, where he was just going to check to see if he was okay, before leaving and getting back to his own life, he felt this odd, nagging feeling deep down inside of him. That this wasn’t Captain Cold who had almost died, but Leonard Snart. The man who was willing to give his life for his sister, who wasn’t as cold and heartless as he had appeared at first. The handsome… yes, Barry had to admit, the very handsome man with the quick wit, and who was probably lying there in that hospital, flirting with the doctors, while stealing a little here and there, just to pass the time.

But when Barry had gotten there, Leonard wasn’t flirting with the doctors, he wasn’t up and about, trying to come up with a way how to get out of there quicker. He was unconscious, hooked up to machines, looking small, fragile. Broken.

Barry had sat with him, for days on end, not once taking his eyes off him. For days, he spent hour after hour, thinking back, thinking what he should have done different. Wishing he would have let himself be honest with himself. Hoping and praying that he would get another chance to tell Leonard how he had truly felt about him, probably from the moment they met. Back then he hadn’t liked him yet, but deep down he had already felt it, that rollercoaster feeling which he had pushed down and written off as adrenaline, but which he knew fully well was attraction, and by now caring. Love even.

He had not gotten another chance though, not until he had watched the people around him ignoring Leonard’s death, while inside of him it felt like there was a tornado raging around. He felt like he was about to burst, and in a fit of rage, after a fight with Iris, who had once again told him that Leonard was not worth the tears, he had run back in time, and he had gotten his second chance.

* * *

“Barry!”

Barry sits up in bed, Joe’s voice still ringing in his ears as he opens his eyes.

“Barry, get your ass down here right now!” Joe yells, and within a split-second Barry is downstairs, worried that something is wrong. But when he sees Leonard standing there, a sheepish grin on his face, Joe looking like he is about to breathe fire, it dawns on him what is wrong.

“Right… I was going to tell you, but…”

“Do I want to know why Leonard Snart is spending the night up in your room?” Joe asks. “Please tell me…”

“We didn’t have sex!” Barry blurts out, but when he sees Joe’s eyes widening, and Leonard covering his mouth, trying not to laugh, he quickly realizes that that was not what Joe was thinking.

“I wasn’t thinking about that, but now I am!” Joe says. “Wait, are you two…? Seriously? All the people to choose from, and you go for…”

“I am right here, you know?” Leonard asks, but Joe just glares at him.

“This guy is a criminal, Barry. Can’t you find yourself someone nice? I know this guy, who…”

“Again, I’m right here.”

“He’s not… we’re not going out, okay?” Barry quickly says, the situation almost as embarrassing as the one from a few hours ago. “Leonard got hurt, so he stayed over so I could keep an eye on him.”

“You two are friends now?”

“No.”

“Yes, we are,” Barry says, glaring at Leonard, who just shrugs. “I know I should have asked you, but…”

“So you two are not…?” Joe asks, looking back at Leonard again. “I’ve heard things about you, you know?”

“Oh, really? Please, do tell.”

“Holy shit!” Iris laughs when she comes downstairs. “You’re dating Leonard Snart?”

“Why does everyone assume that we’re dating?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because he spent the night, and he’s now in our kitchen, wearing your clothes?” Iris shrugs, a big grin on her face. “Oh, come on, dad. Just look at them. They look good together, don’t they?”

“I think it’s best if I go to work now,” Joe grumbles, before stomping off.

“Ignore him, he’ll get used to it.”

“We’re not dating!”

“Okay, if you say so.” Iris shrugs, but Barry can tell by the grin on her face that she doesn’t believe him. At all. But he can’t be bothered explaining it, especially not after the fight he had with her at the hospital after Leonard’s attack, where she said he had gotten what was coming to him. He must have been hanging around the wrong kind of people, it would have happened eventually. Barry knows that technically she hasn’t said it, not in this timeline, but he still remembers, and he is still angry.

“I need to ask,” Leonard asks, after Iris has left. “Why do you care if I live or die? We’re not friends, we’re not…”

“We are.”

“Since when?” Leonard asks, a daring grin on his face. “I’m the bad guy, you’re the good guy, me and you, we’re not meant to get along.”

“I know that, okay?” Barry spits out. “But can you seriously sit there and tell me that there is nothing between us? We’re just two strangers who sometimes…”

“Well… perhaps there is some unresolved sexual tension, but…”

“Can you be serious for once?” Barry asks. “I sat there in the hospital with you, night and day, and I…”

“What?”

“I had to watch you die, Leonard. Do you have any idea what that feels like, to have someone lying there, and just… you just…,” Barry tries, but his words turn into sobs, and before he knows it, Leonard has wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight. “You fucking died, Leonard!”

“I know,” Leonard whispers, gently caressing the back of Barry’s head, a wave of nausea washing over him when he, again, thinks about just what would have happened if Barry hadn’t come back for him.

“Joe was right,” he says, when he lets go of Barry. “You should be with someone nice.”

“I don’t care what Joe said. I like you, okay? I tried so hard not to feel this… this thing in here,” Barry tries to explain, as he puts a hand on his stomach, and Leonard can’t help but smile at his awkwardness. “But after I lost you… I don’t want to pretend anymore. So what that we’re not supposed to like each other? It’s not like you’re…”

“The bad guy?” Leonard chuckles uncomfortably. “With a terrible track record when it comes to dating. Honestly, you should see the last guy I went out with.”

“I like you, okay? I know it’s stupid, but we have gotten a second chance here.”

“About that… what is going to happen now that I didn’t die? Does this mean that something is still out there, hungry for my death? Or does someone else die in my place? You have changed time, Barry, but how much have you changed, exactly?”

“I don’t know,” Barry admits. “Look, I didn’t think this through, okay? And I know it’s stupid, going back in time, changing things, but it’s done now. It’s not like…”

“You can go back and change it?” Leonard suggests, a daring grin on his face.

“I’m not going back. But I couldn’t let you die.” Barry shrugs. “I’m sorry if that messed things up, but I just couldn’t.”

Leonard can’t help but smile, as he brings his hand up to the side of his neck, before bringing their mouths together.

“No one has ever changed time for me before,” Leonard whispers. “Or at least not that I know of.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not doing it again.”

“So if I get in trouble….”

“No,” Barry laughs. “Just try and stay out of trouble from now on.”

“Never.”

“Can you promise me one thing though?” Barry whispers, Leonard’s hand still lingering on the side of his face.

“That depends.”

“Talk to me, okay?” Barry asks. “About last night. I know that you are probably just going to try and laugh it off, and I doubt you’ll even tell Mick about it, but I saw you, Leonard. I saw how scared you were.”

“Are,” Leonard sighs. “How scared I _am_.”

“Yeah… I am so sorry,” Barry says. “I wish I could have stopped him from hurting you, but I was too late, and by the time I got there, he was already touching you, and I just…,” he rambles, but Leonard presses a quick onto his lips to stop him.

“You saved my life, Barry. Don’t you dare apologize. Besides, if you had stopped me from going to see him, I wouldn’t be here right now, would I? You wouldn’t have poured your heart out to me, and declared your love to me.”

“Which I am already starting to regret.” Barry rolls his eyes.

“No, you don’t. I’m just glad all the flirting finally paid off.”

“Flirting?”

“Yes. Wait, are you telling me you didn’t know?” Leonard laughs. “How can you… you seriously never noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

“That I was flirting with you.”

“I thought you were just being… you know… Leonard Snart.” Barry shrugs, but when Leonard rolls his eyes, he can’t help but let out a chuckle. “Wait, so why did you never say anything?”

“Bad guy, good guy… besides, I thought you only had eyes for Iris.”

“Oh… yeah, I did, but then… you know…,” Barry tries, but he can feel a blush creeping up on him, and he quickly keeps quiet.

“Then what?”

“I kind of… started noticing guys?” Barry explains, the mischievous grin on Leonard’s face growing bigger. “So I kind of came out to her and Joe last year?”

“Which is why…”

“They assumed we’re dating, when they realized you had spent the night in my bed.” Barry nods. “Yeah, and now I’ll actually have to go and explain to Joe that I am in fact, going out with…”

“It’s not too late to change your mind.”

“No! I’m just a little nervous.”

“Want me to go with you?”

“And take the hit?” Barry asks, before adding. “Probably literally.”

“Don’t worry, I can take it.” Leonard shrugs, before wrapping his arms around Barry’s waist, and pulling him in for another kiss. “Besides, you heard what Iris said, he’ll get used to it.”

“We’re really doing this then?” Barry asks, still blushing as Leonard pulls him even closer against him. For a split-second, the vision of Leonard in that hospital bed flashes before his eyes, and he tries his best to ignore it, but Leonard has already seen his fear.

“Look at me, Barry, I am still here,” Leonard says, a small, uncertain smile on his face. “I didn’t die. Not yet.”

“I’m nervous about what happened to the timeline,” Barry admits.

“Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out together. Or not, if I still die,” Leonard says, trying to laugh it off, but Barry can see that it’s a genuine fear.

“You are not going to die. I won’t let you.”

“Well, I’m not sure if I find that romantic, or just slightly creepy, but thank you,” Leonard says, before pressing his lips against Barry’s. “And thank you, for last night.”

“You don’t need to…”

“Not for saving my life,” Leonard quickly says. “But for looking after me. I know I am not the easiest to ehm…”

“To love?” Barry suggests, the smallest of smiles forming on Leonard’s lips.

“I suppose so, yes. So it means a lot, knowing that someone cares.”

“I do,” Barry says, a part of him still feeling that raw emotion of losing Leonard, the hurt it had caused. “Love you, I mean.”

“Now you’re just being…”

“No, I’m not,” Barry quickly says. “I love you, okay? I don’t expect you to say the same to me, not yet, maybe never, but I need to tell you.”

“I can’t,” Leonard sighs. “Tell you. But I’ll work on it.”

“That’s okay. How about we start out by going out for breakfast?”

“Like a date?”

“No,” Barry laughs. “That’s not… it’s not a date, it’s more like… you know… spending time together. But not… no pressure.”

Leonard raises an eyebrow, a knowing look on his face, and when he brings his mouth up to Barry’s ear, he can feel him melting in his arms.

“Breakfast sounds good. And Barry?”

“Mhm?”

“That thing you were talking about?” Leonard whispers, before pressing his hand against Barry’s stomach. “In there? I feel it every time you’re in the room.”

“Who’s the romantic now, huh?” Barry teases, but Leonard just reacts by kissing his neck. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Good. If you do…”

“What?”

“Oh, I may or may not have a few tricks up my sleeve to punish you,” Leonard whispers into Barry’s ear, making him feel all kinds of things. “But I doubt I’ll have to use any of them. I’m sure you’ll behave, after all, you’re one of the good guys…”

“Yeah…,” Barry manages to get out, his heart almost beating out of his chest, the thoughts running through his mind, and when Leonard steps away from him, he sees the big teasing grin on his face.

“Unless… you can be bad sometimes?” Leonard teases, knowing exactly what it is that he is doing to Barry.

“We better ehm… get ready for… ehm, breakfast, and ehm…”

“Relax,” Leonard laughs. “If I knew it was this easy to get you all hot and bothered…”

“I’m not… hot and bothered!”

“Really?” Leonard asks, raising an eyebrow, and Barry can feel himself beginning to blush again. “I’m only messing with you.”

“I knew that!” Barry says, but when Leonard gives him a quick kiss, before leaving the room, he looks down at his feet, an embarrassed look on his face, before muttering to himself. “I knew that…”

“Of course you did!”


End file.
